The present invention relates to providing media descriptions of objects on the internet and more particularly, to the configuration of code and data in the delivery of Rich Media Presentations.
The internet is capable of presenting rich media presentations, containing still images, animated images, video images and audio. One problem with these presentations, is the need to transmit large blocks of code and data to the client. This is a serious impediment for presenting products to electronic commerce customers who are typically connected over low-bandwidth dial-up links They cannot be expected to pre-load code and data or wait for very long before their shopping experiences commence. This problem is addressed in the above referenced copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/100,418, entitled xe2x80x9cProgressive Interleaved Delivery of Interactive Descriptions and Renderers for Electronic Publishing of Merchandisexe2x80x9d filed Jun. 20, 1998. This copending application is hereby incorporated by reference.
A second problem concerns optimized delivery of various rich media to easily and effectively address the right amount of information about the merchandise to each user. Each user has different interests, needs and expectations. The presentations must be able to attract and maintain the attention of users with a wide variety of interests and needs, different personalities and varying attention spans. Gathering and presenting information for these and other purposes needed by the user to express his or her selection preferences is difficult with presently available approaches. This problem is addressed by the above referenced U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/169,836. This copending application is hereby incorporated by reference.
Another problem that exists is the organizing of multiple files for presenting a rich media presentation. Usually, various files exist for different portions of a presentation. The tying together of these files to provide a tailored presentation to users presents significant organizational problems. Further, transmitting of files from one server say that in the United States to one in Europe is time consuming and complex. Real time response to a user""s needs by searching files in the United States with a European server would consume considerable server capacity and require an inordinate amount of time to obtain the desired presentation. Examination of existing formats such as MPEG-4, Quick time and ASF reveal that each fails to meet some of the requirements to provide rich media presentations.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an new arrangement of presentation files with rich media presentations.
Another object of the present invention is to encapsulate data and files needed for presentation so as to simplify their accessing and transport.
In accordance with the present invention, a single file contains all information for complete presentation. Each presentation file can contain both data and software for the presentation. It includes both the data and software provided to the user and that retained by the server for the performance of the presentation. The basic building block of a presentation file is a data frame. The presentation file can contain a file header frame, multiple media frames and one or more meta data frames. The file header frame is the only one whose presence is mandatory in the presentation file format. The file header frame identifies the subject matter and contents of the presentation file providing information on the total size of the file and a definition of media tracks in the file. The most degenerate yet useful version of a presentation file would have the file header frame followed by a media frame containing a thumb nail description. A thumbnail description may constitute a simple picture or description of the subject matter. Other media frames can be animated or full motion descriptions of the subject matter. Meta data frames are frames that contain non-media specific data file level behavior and user interface information, such as range actions, attributes. Meta Data Frames are presented only in cases where non-fault behavior and configuration are desired or in cases where actions and abstract navigational semantics are to be incorporated.
This arrangement is a suitable delivery format even over low bandwidth connections, providing for a progressive and streamed delivery. It enables easy inclusion of new media types and the modification of existing frames. The file not only contains media and meta data, but include description information user and server code making the file quite self contained and portable.